Thursday, 8 September 2016

Hero for a Day: Game 3- White Scars/Mechanicus vs Daemons

Game 3 of Hero for a Day was the first doubles match of the day and saw my White Scars paired up with Martin and his Mechanicus, going up against Tom and MJ who were both playing Daemons.

The mission for game 3 was "After them Lads". This was Hammer and Anvil deployment with four objectives and 800 pts in each army. Two objectives had to be placed in the central third of the board and two in the attacker's third (the Daemons). Each player draws 2 tactical objective cards each turn (up to a maximum of 2). The objectives in the central third could only be scored on turns 1-4 and were worth more points for scoring on the later turns. The objectives in the Attacker's zone could only be scored in turns 3-6 and were worth more points for later turns. In all honesty, I think we forgot about the bonus points for this game and just played them as worth their regular points.

His warlord trait gave him a re-roll on the warp storm table. His psychic powers were:
Lord of Change- Sacrifice, Cursed Earth, Summoning, Infernal Gaze

Rolling off for the start of the game, Martin and I lost the roll for placing objectives, table edge and deployment. I think all three rolls were 1 vs 6, not a great start. We placed the objectives as shown below:

Tom and MJ deployed first. They put a unit of Bloodletters and Horrors in the building to hold the objective, with a unit of Screamers on either side. On the left of the building, the Horrors and Bloodletters set up in the trenches, with the Chariot between them and the Screamers. The Lord of Change and Fateweaver went behind the building.

Martin deployed his one unit besides the Bastion. I placed one unit of bikers on the left flank and the Landspeeder Storm next to the Bastion. Martin and I decided to keep the bulk of my army in reserve. This would hopefully allow us to grab the backfield objectives later in the game when they were more valuable and save me from the Screamers and Chariot for a few turns.

Fateweaver and the Lord of Change advanced, swooping over the building towards the enemy lines. The Chariot and Screamers joined the advance.

In the psychic phase, Fateweaver cast Forewarning on the Chariot. The Herald cast Cursed Earth to protect the Screamers he was accompanying. He then cast Warpflame on the Bikers, killing one of the squad. The other Daemons attempted to cast Flickering Fire and Prismatic Gaze on the bikers, but failed to manifest both powers.

With no assault, the turn was over. Tom and MJ scored no points this turn. They discarded Big Game Hunter and Domination.

The White Scars bikers advanced on the left flank towards the Screamers. The Landspeeder Storm moved up on one side of the Bastion, the Mechanicus moving up on the other side to secure the objective.

Two of the Kastellans fired on the Chariot with their flamers, but failed to cause any damage (thanks to the boost of the psychic powers). The other Robots fired at the Screamers in front of them, killing 4 of the squad, despite their Jinking. The Bikers fired on the Screamers, but failed to cause any damage.

The Bikers assaulted the Screamers, wounding them once with their hammer of wrath attacks. The Bikers attacked the Screamers, causing another 4 unsaved wounds. The Screamers struck back, killing three of the bikers. The Daemonic Instability of the unit caused another wound on the Screamers.

At the end of our turn, Martin scored Objective 2. We discarded Domination and Assassinate.

The Screamers and Chariot on the left flank advanced. the Screamers moving onto objective 3. The Lord of Change landed on the objective, while Fateweaver moved to the top of the bastion.

In the psychic phase, the Lord of Change cast Cursed Earth. The Herald cast Vortex of Doom on the Mechanicus unit, killing two of the Kastellan Robots. They then cast Prismatic Gaze on the unit, which we failed to block, killing another of the Robots.

The Chariot fired at the Landspeeder Storm, killing one of the Scouts (and giving them feel no pain), but failing to damage the vehicle.

In the assault phase, the Bikers struck at the Screamers but failed to cause any harm. The bikers were wiped out in return, the Daemons consolidating towards the enemy lines.

At the end of the turn, they scored Objective 3 twice and discarded Objective 2.

TURN 2- WHITE SCARS/MECHANICUS
This turn, I had Witchhunter (kill an enemy psyker) and Objective 4. Martin had Scour the Skies and Overwhelming Firepower (kill an enemy unit).

One unit of White Scars bikers arrived from reserve, outflanking to the right flank besides the Bloodletters. The Landspeeder Storm advanced on the Horrors, the squad inside disembarking.

In the shooting phase, the newly arrived bikers targeted the Bloodleeters, killing 4 of the squad. The Scouts fired at the squad, killing another 4.

The Dominus fired at the Khorne Daemons, wiping them out. The Kastelan Robots split their fire at the Horrors, killing three of the squad. The Landspeeder Storm fired at the Horrors, killing 4 with the Cerberus Launcher and Heavy Bolter and blinding them in the process.

At the end of our turn, we scored one point for Overwhelming Firepower.

VICTORY POINTS:
Daemons- 2
White Scars/Mechanicus- 2

At the end of turn 2, the scoreboard was pretty even, but I was not feeling confident. The massive amount of psychic powers the Daemons had access to had kept them very well protected as well as taking out half the Mechanicus unit with their D weapon shooting attacks.

TURN 3- DAEMONS
In turn 3, MJ had Hold the Line (have 3 units within 12" of the board edge and no enemy units) and Objective 4. Tom had Objective 3 and Objective 4.

The two units of Screamers moved towards the Scouts and their Transport, while the Chariot moved to engage the Bikers. The Lord of Change moved to attack the Mechanicus that remained. The Daemons used the power of the Grimoire to protect the Chariot and Screamers.

In the psychic phase, the Daemons attempted to cast Cursed Earth, but failed the power. They also attempted to cast Vortex of Doom on the Mechanicus, but failed the power and perilled, but came to no harm. Fateweaver cast Molten Beam on the Landspeeder Storm, penetrating it and blowing it up.

The Screamer turbo-boosted to objective 4. The Chariot fired at the bikers, killing one of the squad with its attack.

In the assault phase, the Chariot charged the Bikers. The White Scars fired their overwatch and managed to immobilise the chariot with their grav guns.

The Lord of Change charged the Mechanicus, their overwatch fire inflicting one wound. The Lord of Change issues a challenge that the Dominus accepted. Both combatants struck at one another, wounding each other once.

The Screamers charged the Scouts. The Hammer of Wrath attacks wounded one of the Scouts, but I managed to make my 6+ feel no pain roll. Both sides struck at one another, wounding each squad once and drawing the combat. The Scouts Hit and Ran from the combat.

At the end of their turn, they scored Objective 4 and discarded Hold the Line.

TURN 3- WHITE SCARS/MECHANICUS
This turn, I had Witchhunter and Objective 4. Martin had Objective 1 and Big Game Hunter.

The rest of the White Scars reserves arrived, moving on the right flank to engage the Daemons there.

The Scout Bikers fired on the Horrors, killing three of the squad as they went to ground. The Scouts fired at them, killing three more and leaving two in the squad.

The two biker units fired at the Chariot, hoping to finish off the immobilised chariot, but failed to cause any harm thanks to its psychic defences.

I made a big mistake this turn. I so rarely use reserves and outflanking that I forgot (again) that you cannot assault from reserve! I should have focused on finishing off the Horrors, rather than go after the incredibly durable chariot, to score Witchhunter.

In the combat, the Lord of Change struck at the Mechanicus, killing the Tech Priest and Datasmiths and leaving a single robot. In reply, the Lord of Change suffered another wound.

At the end of our turn, I scored Objective 4 and they scored Slay the Warlord.

VICTORY POINTS:
Daemons- 4
White Scars/Mechanicus- 3

Things were still a lot closer than I was expecting in this game. The Mechanicus were down to a single model and my error had cost me that turn.

Fateweaver swooped into the centre of the White Scars lines, while the Screamers advanced on the Scouts once more, the Herald of Tzeentch leaving them to claim the objective. They used the Grimoire on the Screamers and Lord of Change.

In the psychic phase, the Lord of Change cast Cursed Earth on himself. He was down to 1 wound and they were desperate to keep him alive (which a 2+ re-rollable invulnerable save would be good at!). The Daemons then summoned another Chariot besides the White Scars. Fateweaver then cast Infernal Gateway on the bikers. He perilled and took a wound, losing Flickering Fire from his mind. The psychic attack struck the bikers, wounding them 4 times. I managed to fail three of my 3+ Jink saves and half the unit died.

The warp storm finally did something this turn, summoning a unit of Bloodletters onto the battlefield, besides objective 3.

In the shooting phase, the Chariot fired at Khan's unit, wounding the White Scars warlord once. The other Chariot fired at the Scout Bikers, killing three of the squad.

In the assault phase, the Screamers assaulted the Scouts. The Scouts struck first, causing a single wound and lost two of the squad in reply. The Scouts passed their morale check.

The other squad of Screamers assaulted the Bikers, one dying to overwatch fire. Khan and the bikers struck at the unit, each causing one wound and killing a Daemon. The Screamers failed to hit in reply. The White Scars won and hit and ran from the combat.

The Kastellan Robot and Lord of Change struck at one another, but failed to cause any wounds.

At the end of their turn, MJ and Tom each scored objective 3. The failure to finish off the Scouts meant they could not score Ascendency, which would have probably put the final nail in our coffin.

TURN 4- WHITE SCARS/MECHANICUS
This turn, I drew No Prisoners (kill an enemy unit) and had Witchhunter. Martin drew Praise the Machine God (use a canticles) and Big Game Hunter.

The remaining White Scars advanced on the Horrors and Chariot.

The Bikers fired at the Horrors, killing the last of the unit. Khan's unit and the Scout Bikers fired on the Chariot, but were unable to harm it.

Both units then assaulted the Chariot, amazingly losing no-one to overwatch fire. The White Scars managed to bring down the Chariot in combat, where their firepower had failed.

The Scouts and Screamers struck at one another. The Scouts were unable to harm the Screamers and the Daemons managed to miss with all of their attacks! The Lord of Change managed to wound the Robot twice.

At the end of our turn, we scored No Prisoners, Witchhunter and Praise the Machine God for 3 points.

VICTORY POINTS:
Daemons- 6
White Scars/Mechanicus- 6

We had somehow managed to draw the game level once more, but had very little left on the table to hope to hold up the Daemons for long.

The Daemons advanced on the remaining White Scars, eager to finish them off.

In the psychic phase, the Lord of Change cast cursed Earth on himself. The Herald then cast Vortex of Doom on Khan's unit, killing one of the bikers. He then cast Infernal Gateway on the unit, wounding them once, but I passed my Jink save.

The Chariot fired at the White Scars, killing one biker and two of the Scout Bikers.

The Screamers and Scouts continued to strike at one another to no avail. I hit and ran out of combat.

The Lord of Change finally managed to kill the Kastelan Robot, removing the Mechanicus from the game.

At the end of their turn, they scored Ascendancy for 3 points, Supremacy for two points and discarded Behind Enemy Lines. Some great rolling for the two D3 objectives had likely won them the game. I was on my own with very little left and not much I could score.

TURN 5- WHITE SCARS/MECHANICUS
This turn, I had Objective 2 and Ascendency.

I moved towards the Lord of Change, hoping I would get lucky and take his last wound. I fired everything at the Greater Daemon, but failed to cause any harm.

With that, the game ended there.

End of the game.

VICTORY POINTS:
Daemons- 11
White Scars/Mechanicus- 6

AFTER-BATTLE THOUGHTS

Thanks to MJ and Tom for a great game. It was much closer than I thought it was going to be, right up until the final turn. Thanks to Martin too for his efforts during the game. Though in saying that, once the Mechanicus got into combat, he ended up falling asleep and we just got on with it!

The Daemons were always going to be tough to deal with. The combination of the Grimoire, Cursed Earth and Tzeentch Daemons meant that each turn, MJ and Tom could give two units a 2+ re-rollable invulnerable save. There was very little in our combined armies that could put out the firepower needed to get past that sort of protection each turn.

Overall, I think it went pretty well. Keeping the Scars in reserve meant that I had more units later in the game to deal with the backfield Daemons and keep the objectives tied up thanks to objective secured on my units.

Martin's one unit of Mechanicus was pretty tough to take out, but was a bit of a risk in a maelstrom game as it had limited mobility and could be tied up in combat. If it wasn't for the D weapons in the psychic attacks which he was hammered with in the first few turns, I think they actually would have done very well against the Daemons. I don't want to complain unfairly as MJ and Tom played a great game, but when one side has 2+ re-rollable invulnerable saves and D weapons and the other side does not, I was pretty certain the game would only end in one result. Also, two flying Greater Daemons is a tough prospect for an army with no skyfire.

It was an interesting mission. Having the objectives in the centre of the board and the enemy deployment zone forced us to be more aggressive towards the Daemons than we may have wanted. I would have liked to have sat back more with the Mechanicus and White Scars and forced them to come to us. This would have maybe allowed us to deal with the Screamers and Chariots on their own and then mop up the lighter Daemon elements.

So, three games down and I was on two wins and a loss. Fatigue was starting to take its toll on me at that time, but I was still in a relatively good mood, which was very surprising to me!